Condenser system and vacuum-pump.



M. RIESNER.

CONDENSER SYSTEM AND VACUUM PUMP. APPLICATION FILED lAN.19. 1914. RENEWED JULY 23. 1915.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

MICHAEL RIESNER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY -IVIIESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WORTHINGTON PUMP AND MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A

CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

CONDENSER SYSTEM AND VACUUM-PUMP,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 19, 1914, Serial No. 812,957. Renewed July 23, 1915. Serial No. 41,616.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL RIEsNEn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, county of Hamilton, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Condenser Systems and Vacuum-Pumps, fully described and repre sented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to improvements in vacuum pumping apparatus, and particularly to an apparatus of this kind for use in connection with condensing systems.

The object of the invention is to provide a vacuum pumping apparatus of a simple, reliable and economically operated type, by means of which a high vacuum may be maintained, particularly under conditions where the fluid being pumped contains vapors, as for example, when exhausting the air with its accompanying vapors from a condenser system.

With this general object in View, the invention consists in a special type of single cylinder vacuum pump, arranged to draw in air and vapor at a low pressure, transfer this air and vapor without material compression and without any appreciable vaporization of any water of condensation to the opposite end of the cylinder, through a trans fer port, and thereafter compress such air and vapor to atmospheric pressure or above, and discharge it from the pump, this pump being arranged to operate inv conjunction with a suitable source of air or vapor, and especially intended for use in condensing systems of that class in which the air and uncondensed vapors are drawn off separately from the water.

The invention also comprises a pumphaving certain specific valve arrangements whereby the desired results may be accomplished, as hereinafter more fully pointed out in connection with the drawings.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a condensing plant and vacuum pump embodying the present invention, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section of the vacuum pump.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a condenser of any suitable type. In the pres ent example it is shown as a surface condenser which may be provided with internal cooling devices for cooling the air as now usual in condenser systems. This condenser is shown as provided with a hotwell 2, and at 3 is indicated a hotwell pump which, in the specific example illustrated, is a centrifugal pump having its suction connected by a pipe 4 to the bottom of the hotwell, the suction side of the pump also being connected by an air pipe to a suitable point of the condenser, as for example to the upper' At 10 is indicated the exhaust steam inlet to the condenser.

For the purpose of removing air or uncon densable gases and uncondensed vapors from the condenser and thereby maintaining the necessary vacuum in the condenser, a particular type of vacuum pump is provided, this vacuum pump being connected to the air discharge of the condenser by a pipe 11, Fig. 1. The vacuum pump, in the present example, is illustrated as a steam pump, that is to say, the pump piston is connected to the piston of a steam engine, whose cylinder is indicated at 12, this steam engine having the fly-wheel 13 and a main shaft 14 provided with an eccentric 15 for the purpose of operating the valve gear of the vacuum pump, as more fully explained hereinafter.

The particular construction of the vacuum pump which constitutes an essential feature of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 2. This vacuum pumpcomprises a single cylinder 16 within which travels a piston 17 mounted on the piston rod 18, which, as before pointed out, is extended into the steam cylinder 12 of the steam engine and there connected with the steam piston, whereby the pump piston 17 may be reciprocated. The vacuum pump cylinder is covered by heads indicated generally at 19, 20. The valves for the vacuum pump are mounted in these heads and the clear- Patented Aug. 2o, flare.

der, the communication between ance at each end of the cylinder is made as small as practicable in order to obtain as high a volumetric efiiciency as posslble. The

head 19 is provided with an inlet passage indicated at 21, which communicates through the pipe 11 with the condenser. The passage 21 is arranged to communlcate with a port 22 leading to the pump cylint e passage 21 and the port 22 being controlled by a valve 23. In the present embodiment of the invention, the same valve also controls the communication between the port 22 and atransfer passage 24 arranged to communlcats with a port 25 in the discharge end of the cylinder. .For the purpose of controlling the communication between the trans fer passage 24 and the port 25, a valve 26 is provided, which valve, in the present embodiment of the invention, also controls the communication between the port 25 and a discharge outlet having spring puppet valves 27. The puppet valves are located in a valve chamber 28, which communicates by a passage 29 with the pump outlet 30. In the present embodiment of the invention the valves 23, 26, are rotary and are arranged to be mechanically operated at the proper vtime by suitable means, as for example the valve rod 31, Fig. 1, which is connected to valve-operating crank arms 32, 33, respectively, this valve rod 31 being operated from the eccent ic 15 of the engine by the eccentric rod 34, acting through a rocker arm 35 as shown. The head 20 is shown provided with a stuffing box and gland as indicated at 36 for packing the piston rod 18.

The construction and arrangement of the valve mechanism is such that the valve 23 puts the inlet passage 21 in communication with the port 22, at the moment the piston 17 commences its forward stroke, that is to say, its stroke in the direction of the arrow X, Fig. Consequently, during this forward stroke the air and any uncondensed vapors therewith will fill the space behind the piston. As soon as the piston 17 has reached its extreme forward position,'the valve 23 is rotated to close the port 22 and thus cut off the communication between said port 22 and the inlet passage 21. Soon after the piston 17 has commenced its backward stroke, the valve 23 rotates farther to put the port 22 in communication with the transfer passage '24 and at this time the valve 26 has rotated farther to put the transfer passage 24 in communication with the port 25 at the forward end of the cylinder.- Subsequentl'y, during the further backward movemegt of the piston 17, the air and any vapors accompanying it will be driven from behind the piston through the transfer passage 2*: and the port into the forward end of the cylinder so that by the time the piston 17 has completed its backward stroke, substantially all the air and vapor which have been drawn in behind the piston by the previous suction stroke will be transferred from behind the piston to the front end of the cylinder in front of the piston 17, excepting, of course, that small part which remains in the clearance spaces at the rear end of the cylinder. It is to be emphasized that this transfer of the air and vapor from behind the piston to the front end of the cylinder is done without compressing such air and vapor any more than is absolutely necessary, to insure the delivery of such air and vapor to the front end of the cylinder. In other words, compression of this air and vapor behind the piston is avoided as much as possible, for the reason hereinafter pointed out. Just before the beginning of the next forward stroke of the piston in the direction of the arrow X, the valve 26 is rotated in order to cut off communication bestruction, a certain portion of the compressed fluid is trapped between the rotary valve 26 and the puppet valves 27 so that the latter valves are retarded in their closing action, thereby avoiding shock orjarring and assisting in obtaining a noiseless operation of the valves 27, as fully described in United States Letters Patent No. 845,653, granted February 26, 1907, to De Laval and Aborn.

By meansof the apparatus described. a high vacuum can be obtained in a reliable and economical manner, for the reason that the suction side of the piston 17 is never employed to obtain any important compression of the air and vapor. Consequently, it is possible, in practice, to use a convenient clearance space without said space acting to materially elfect the volumetric efficiency during the suction stroke. Hence, when, as is general in vacuum pumps, water vapor is drawn into the pump and condenses therein during the suction stroke, there is little or no tendency to revaporize this water of condensation by' heat due to compression of the air accompanying it. By the location of the port 22 near the bottom of the cylinder as shown in Fig. 2, any condensed vapor is readily discharged from the suction side of the pump and falls to the trap 37, from which it may be readily removed through a vacuum trap.

It is to be noted that owing to the volumetric efticiency of the single cylinder vacuum pump disclosed herein, this pump will handle the same amount of vapor as a twocylinder, two-stage vacuum pump of the same displacement and having the same amount of clearance and also will handle the same amount of air and vaporas a singlecylinder, double-acting piston vacuum pump of the same size and having the same amount of clearance. Consequently, a vacuum pump of this single-cylinder type avoids the complications and increased opportunities for leakage of the two-cylinder, two-stage vacuum pump, and also avoidsthe poor vacuum resulting from the use of the double-acting piston, single-cylinder pump heretofore employed.

While in the particular embodiment described the pump is shown as provided with mechanically-operated rotary valves, it is possible to accomplish many of the desirable results of this invention by the use of spring pressed puppet valves, in which case, however, each end of the cylinder must be provided with two ports, one for the inlet and the other for the outlet. At the same time, it is better to employ .a positively actuated valve for closing the inlet to the suction end of the cylinder, even though spring pressed puppet valves be employed to control the communication between the transfer passage and the two ends of the cylinder, because such a positively-operated inlet valve may be closed before the piston starts on its backward stroke .and the loss of condenservacw um required for opening automatic suction valves is avoided.

IVhile a surface condenser system has been shown, it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable in systems employing jet or ejector. condensers of an type. I

When the amount of vapor likely to condense in the cylinders is material, suitable relief valves may be provided, as for example outwardly opening spring pressed valves, in the cylinder heads, in order to permit the escape of any liquid which may be trapped in the cylinder ends, and thus to avoid injury to the apparatus.

What is claimed is':-

1. In a condensing system of that class in which the air is drawn off separately from the water, the combination, with a condenser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect with the air discharge of the condenser, a discharge outlet at the other end, a transfer passage independent of the piston arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the' cylinder to the other, a piston, means for reciprm-ating it, and valve mechanism ar ranged to transfer the fluid from the inlet side of the piston to the outlet side thereof through the transfer passage without material compression of such fluid.

2. In a condensing system of that class in which the air is drawn 01f separately from the water, the combinatiom with a. condenser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect'with the air discharge of the condenser, a discharge outlet at the other end of the pump, a piston, means for reciprocating said piston, a transfer passage independent of the piston ar ranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other, and valve mechanism including a mechanicallyoperated valve arranged to control the inlet of fluid to the inlet end of the cylinder.

3. In a condensing system of that class in which the air is drawn oif separately from the water, the combination, with a con denser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect with the air discharge of the condenser, a discharge'outlet at the other end of the pump, a piston, means for reciprocating said piston, a transfer passage independent of the piston arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other, and valve mechanism including a mechanically-operated valve device arranged to control the transfer passage.

4. In a condensing system of that class in which the air. is drawn off separately from the Water, the combination, with a condenser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect with the air discharge of the condenser, a discharge outlet at the other end of the pump, a piston, means for reciprocating said piston, a transfer passage.independent of the piston arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other, and mechanically-operated valve mechanism ar ranged to control the transfer passage and the inlet and discharge openings.

5. In a condensing system, the combination, with a condenser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect with the condenser, a discharge outlet at the other end, a transfer passage independent of the piston arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other, a piston, means for reciprocating it, and valve mechanism ar ranged to transfer the fluid from the inlet side of the piston tothe outlet side thereof without material compression of such fluid.

6. A vacuum pump comprising a single cylinder having an inlet at one end, a discharge outlet at the other end, a transfer passage imlependent of the piston arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other, a piston, means for reciprocating it, and valve mechanism arranged to transfer the fluid from the inlet side of the piston to the outlet side thereof through the transfer passage without ma terial compression of such fluid.

7. In a condensing'system of the class in which the air is drawn off separately from the water, the combination, with a condenser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect with the air discharge of the condenser, a discharge outlet at the other end, a transfer passage independent of the piston arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cyl- I inder to the other, said transfer passage connecting with the inlet end of the cylinder near the bottom thereof whereby liquid may drain from the cylinder to the transfer port, means for drawing off the liquid from said transfer port, a piston, means for reciproeating it, and valve mechanism including valves for controlling the transfer passage to permit the transfer of fluid from the inlet side of the piston to the outlet side thereof without material compression of such fluid.

8. In a condensing system of that class in which the air is drawn ofi' separately from the water, the combination, with a condenser, of a single cylinder pump having an inlet at one end arranged to connect with the air discharge of the condenser, a discharge outlet at the other end of the pump, a

piston, means for reciprocating said piston, a transfer passage arranged to permit the transfer of fluid from one end of the cylinder to the other, and valve mechanism inlet side thereof without material compression of such fluid.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MICHAEL RIESNER.

Witnesses GUSTAV R. WINTERS,

CARL- G. WERNER. 

